Naruto's Labyrinth
by Christopher Scott
Summary: A NarutoxHinata twist to Jim Henson's Labyrinth. Hinata must rescue her sister Hanabi from the castle of the Demon King by solving his Labyrinth. There will be changes to the story, and there will be romance and adventure, as well as magic and friendships formed. Please Read and Review. Truly, Christopher Scott: A Gentleman Thief
1. Chapter 1

Naruto's Labyrinth

Chapter 1

This is not a crossover with Pan's Labyrinth, which I don't own. This is a crossover between Naruto and Jim Henson's Labyrinth, which I also don't own. I haven't given up on either of my other works, I'm just also going to be working on this as well.

Hinata Hyuuga was a skilled ninja in her esteemed clan and was also a bit of a storyteller. She was a great fan of fairy tales specifically, a passion that she shared with her younger sister Hanabi. One night, she was rehearsing a story to tell her, and had just reached the climax.

"'Give me the child,'" she read, making her voice sound powerful, "'Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Demon City to take back the child you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great. You…You…' What could that next line be…? Ah yes 'You have no power over me…'"

"Hinata?" she heard her father call, "I need you to come down here."

"Yes, Father," she responded, "I am coming."

Once she got downstairs, she greeted her father and stepmother, and asked, "What do you need me to do, Father?"

"Hinata," Kurenai said gently, "Your father and I plan on going out on a date, and Neji was knocked out and dragged off by his female teammate. Could you watch Hanabi for us? She's already had dinner, so you just need to put her to bed and check on her every once in a while."

"Hai, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata responded. Despite how long it had been since her father married her jounin instructor, Hinata still hadn't gotten out of the habit of referring to Kurenai as sensei.

"Thank you so much, Hinata," Kurenai smiled. Assured that Hanabi was in good hands, Hiashi and Kurenai left the compound.

When Hinata got Hanabi to bed, her younger sister yawned, "Onee-chan, can you tell me a new story?"

"Of course, Hanabi-imouto," she answered, seating herself into a chair beside her younger sister, "Once upon a time, there was a clever young maiden who was considered beautiful by many. One person in particular who was interested in her was the King of the Demons, who was referred to as the Demon King. In his castle in the center of a Labyrinth, he spied on the girl and was attracted to her beauty and gentility, as well as her courage. So moved was he that he gave the maiden a power, which she never planned on using. You see, it was a spell to banish her sister to the realm of the Demons. The words were simple, and she knew them well. They were 'I wish the Demons would take you away right now.' One night she accidentally…"

Hearing Hanabi breathing at a slow, but steady rate, Hinata turned to see that her sister was asleep, and so left her there sleeping. She would check on her in 10 minutes. Suddenly she heard a crash in her sister's room. Rushing in as quickly as possible, she burst into the room to find…nothing. There was no sign of a mess, no broken items, and no open window. It was completely silent. Wait.

Realizing that there was no sound, whatsoever, she ran to Hanabi's bed, only to find that her sister was not in there. Rushing out of the room, she began shouting, trying to find Hanabi as quickly as possible. She searched the bathroom, the dining room, the kitchen, and every other room, but she still could not find her sister. Hoping against all odds that Hanabi had just escaped her gaze, she activated her Byakugan in an attempt to find her sister. Seeing a chakra system of a small person, she rushed up to her sister's room and yet, when she got there, she found nothing, so she deactivated it. Looking through the window she saw a fox charging at it. Bursting through, it leapt in front of Hinata and suddenly transformed into an orange-clad boy with blonde hair and fox whiskers, who appeared to be around her age.

"Now, why would you make a wish like that?" the boy inquired in a droll tone, "You sent a small child into a Labyrinth of all manners of magical beings."

"That wasn't a wish," she responded harshly, "I was telling her a story. Now, do you wish to tell me who you are, and why you are here telling me to have not told a simple story?"

"Well, love, your manners are very good for getting information, aren't they," he taunted, "At any rate, why would I be here to admonish telling a fake story? You told our story, so, here I am, believe it."

"Where is Hanabi?" she asked, reactivating her Byakugan, "And who are you?"

"Easy there, my darling," he responded, "At least I'm not throwing snakes at you. She's in my castle, in the center of the Labyrinth surrounding the Demon City, as you should know. You made the wish, after all. As for who I am, guess."

"You can't be the Demon King," she responded, scrutinizing the boy carefully.

"One and the same, my dear," he said, conjuring up a ball of blue energy, which then solidified into a ball of crystal, "Your wish, untimely as it was, was heard, so I came and took the child from the bed, and yet you are not pleased by this, so here I stand."

"As I said before," Hinata growled, "That was not a wish."

"What's said is said," he returned, playing with the crystal ball, "Now, if I weren't so assured of your good nature, I would offer you this in exchange for forgetting the girl."

"And I wouldn't trust it," she retorted, giving him a sharp glare, "What is it?"

"It's only a crystal, nothing more, nothing less," he answered, grinning roguishly, "but if you turn it this way, you can see your dreams. Still, as the Hinata I love would not be sidetracked by mere trinkets, I will give you a chance to reclaim your poor sister. You will have nine hours to make your way to the center of the Demon City, in the center of my Labyrinth, escaping traps, dead ends, and other little surprises that will befall you. Needless to say, if you fail to reclaim your sister in that time frame, she is considered forfeit, and therefore must remain in the Labyrinth as my heir. Well, I suppose that I'll just be leaving now."

Before he could do anything, she grabbed him by his collar, looked him square in the eye and glared while saying, "Bring my sister back to me now."

"Believe me, precious, if I had my way, things would be that simple," he responded, trying to squirm out of her grip, "Unfortunately, you said the words, 'I wish' and so I had to honor your request. I have no control over the matter, and quite frankly, if I did, I would wash my hands of the whole matter and be done with it. You can't take the shortcut to getting her back, even if you did make the wish."

"Alright, I'll play your game," she relented, releasing the boy, "But, I want your word that Hanabi-imouto will not be harmed."

"Believe me, love," he answered, "she will not be harmed in my castle or kingdom. At any rate, you've already missed five minutes on the clock. I would recommend not missing another."

With that, he snapped his fingers and faded away as the area surrounding her slowly morphed into a field in front of a large, seemingly endless stone wall, "Best of luck, my love. It wouldn't do if the future queen couldn't solve the Labyrinth."

Feeling a lips brush against her left cheek, Hinata felt both cheeks get slightly hotter before her desire to save Hanabi reminded her to press onward. She only had 8 hours and 55 minutes to solve the Labyrinth, after all. She instantly found herself rather glad she had the Byakugan.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto's Labyrinth

Chapter 2

I still don't own either intellectual properties.

Thank you to shizukana313, Batros940, and Mangamolly1991 for your reviews.

Hinata was angry. Despite how skilled she was at using her Byakugan, she still could not find her way into the Labyrinth. Walking along the outside, she noticed a strange girl walking around in a red dress and top hat. Her hair was much stranger, however. The girl had pink hair. She was going around hedges shooting some sort of smoke at little flying creatures. Hinata got closer to the scene and saw that the creatures were actually fairies.

"Why are you doing that?" Hinata asked, "They don't seem to be doing anything."

"They're very dangerous, actually," the girl responded, "They tend to bite when you get too close to them."

"Why would they do that?" Hinata asked, looking at the twitching fairies on the ground.

"Because they're useless little monsters who need to be purged!" the girl shouted with rage before her expression suddenly became friendlier as she walked her way over to Hinata. Just as suddenly as her expression changed, she continued, "Still, they are so adorable, and they fly so high. Also, I think we're also part fairy… No, we're not! Then why do we have such an odd hair color...? It's not odd, considering who lives here…."

"Pardon me," Hinata said, "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I need a way into the Labyrinth. I couldn't see any, so I'm asking you for help."

"Why can't you do it on your own?" the girl asked before she got a friendly smile as she said, "Well, why don't I give you some hints, then? First of all, don't trust your eyes so much. You need to realize that special eyes don't always show the path ahead."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked, "The Byakugan sees everything for almost 360 degrees."

"Well, just because they're infallible to what's around you doesn't mean that you're not looking at your problems all wrong. Try taking a walk straight. The entrance is right here."

"Who are you, miss?" Hinata asked. The was friendly, but she was rather strange.

"I'm Sakura Haruno," she replied, her voice getting business-like, "Now, Hinata, we need to hurry if you're going to reclaim your sister."

"How do you know my name?" Hinata asked, getting into a combat stance.

"Easy there," Sakura smiled, her voice softening, "If I was an enemy, I would have hurt you already. The Demon King was very specific on who was coming to our Labyrinth and why. "

"Then why are you helping me?" Hinata queried, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Well, he didn't say to NOT help you," Sakura responded, "He just told us that you were there, so we needed to make the place look good for the one he loved. I wish Sasuke-kun would be that romantic, sometimes… When he does that, the Labyrinth will freeze over… That's not true!"

Hinata walked ahead, looking straight ahead. As she walked up to the wall in front of her, she found that what she thought was a wall was an optical illusion that made the entrance look like more wall. This would be _**fun.**_

* * *

"Hey, Gaara," the Demon King said, "How is little Hanabi?"

"She is fine, Naruto," the other boy said, rocking the girl in a cradle of sand, "She will not go to sleep, though. She seems determined to stay awake, in fact."

"Let me get this straight," Naruto said, "the Sandman, himself stands here in all his mighty glory, and yet is defeated by a little girl who was just not sleeping? I've seen you knock armies unconscious with just a flick of your sand in their general direction."

"Said the Demon King who is at the beck and call of an ordinary girl," Gaara responded with a smirk.

"That is totally different," Naruto defended, seating himself in his throne as Gaara conjured up a seat for himself out of sand, "Hinata's special. Also, I never expected her to use the wish."

"And what of your other gifts?" Gaara inquired, sending more sand to Hanabi's cradle with just a slight gesture, "I am fairly certain her nine hours is eight more than your predecessor had given anyone else. Also, assistance was never given."

"Those hours are because she actually didn't want to wish her sister away," Naruto responded mirthfully, "And, as for assistance, what assistance? I didn't offer any assistance."

"So, you did not send your trusted gardener to the gate just after you left her?" Gaara responded, "I would not expect the Nine-Tailed Fox to lose sight of one of his most reliable confidantes."

"If Sakura went out to help the girl, who am I to deny her that aid?" Naruto asked with a mischievous grin, "I can make things slightly more difficult for her, if you're so worried, but, remember, my One-Tailed friend, I can't take away any allies she gains without breaking the rules, and you know the consequences of that. Even if I would enjoy her victory to an extent, I would never forfeit in something like this. It's too much fun."

"And this has nothing to do with your obsession with the girl?" Gaara parried, looking the Demon King in the eye.

"Well, Gaara," Naruto replied with a smirk, "I wouldn't expect the Lord of Dreams to have some words on another's 'obsession' with a human. If I recall correctly, Matsuri was a human before she was courted by a certain someone."

"That is completely unrelated to the matter at hand," Gaara responded, "I brought her dreams to life because I was afraid of her. She was so beautiful and kind that my conjurations were pale in comparison, and I could not bring such unworthy things to her. I tried and tried, yet she would not accept my love."

"And, then, when you left your station in despair, it turned out that she was just as in love with you, but she thought it was all just a dream before I introduced you to each other face to face. I remember what happened well," Naruto responded, "Just trust me on this, Gaara."

"Very well," Gaara responded, "I will go by your judgment this time."

"Thank you, Gaara," Naruto responded, "Now, keep quiet, Hanabi's asleep, and I would enjoy not having to deal with a toddler while I watch Hinata go through my Labyrinth. She'll be hard enough to find as it is."

Silently wishing Hinata goodnight, Naruto created a crystal and began to spy on Hinata.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto's Labyrinth

Chapter 3

I still don't own Naruto. Is anyone reading this disclaimer? I think not, but here it is.

Hinata was walking with Sakura following her. She had been through many turns and twists, but she had still not really gotten anywhere. Getting worried for Hanabi's safe return, she turned to Sakura and asked, "Aren't you going to help me?"

"I am helping," Sakura responded in an angry tone. She then softened and said, "I can't give you any directions since that would be cheating, but I can tell you if there's trouble, and I can help you out a lot in a fight."

"Okay," Hinata said, turning to go down another path. Getting bored as she managed to find a new path, she asked, "Why do you work for the Demon King? Are you enslaved?"

"No!" Sakura shouted indignantly, "He's my friend. He pulled me out of a fairy pit when we were little, so I helped with making his Labyrinth. Sasuke-kun minds all the bridges throughout the Labyrinth, though."

"Who is 'Sasuke-kun?'?" Hinata asked, as this was the second time Sakura had mentioned him.

"He's an orphan that was taken in by the previous Demon King after Naruto was crowned his heir," Sakura said, "Naruto took him when his brother failed to claim him from the center and introduced us. He doesn't know it yet, but we're going to get married… That's the only way it'll happen… Shut up!"

"Are you okay?" Hinata inquired, unsure of the cause of Sakura's outbursts.

"I'm fine," Sakura said with a smile, "My other self just tends to argue with me a lot."

"I see," Hinata said, remembering hearing about spirits that were made of two souls in one body. Then, having nothing better to do, she asked, "How many people other than me have been through this Labyrinth?"

"Including you?" Sakura asked, "One. He seemed to get it into his head one day that he needed to make a Labyrinth that was 'worthy of her'. I'm pretty sure that, given his not doing any child-snatching from other families; the 'her' he's talking about is you."

When Sakura said that, a blush crept onto Hinata's cheeks at the thought of him thinking of her as something special.

"You like him…" Sakura said, a grin spreading across her face.

"N-no I don't" she replied vehemently, "Why would I like the person who kidnapped my sister?"

"Because that's not who you first thought of him as," Sakura said, her grin not leaving her face, "You've read other stories about him, haven't you?"

Hinata remained silent, until she and Sakura came across two doors, each with a masked person, though one of the masks was bandages and only covered the bottom of the face, and the other appeared to be white porcelain and covered the whole face.

"Be careful, Hinata," Sakura said, "You can only ask one question to one of them and one of them tells the truth and the other lies. One of the doors leads further into the Labyrinth and the other to certain death. I can't go with you, but I'll be waiting for you on the other side."

With that, Sakura left, leaving Hinata alone with the doors and their guards. She sat down for a few moments, trying to puzzle out what to ask to get the right door. Eventually, she had figured out what to ask, so she went up to the one with the porcelain mask and asked, "Would the other guard say that this door leads to the castle?"

"No," the guard replied in a surprisingly feminine sounding voice.

"I will go through that door," Hinata said confidently.

"Why?" the other guard asked, seeming to be interested.

"If they were the one who tells the truth, then you, being the liar would say that the door does not lead to the castle," Hinata said, "And if they were the one who tells lies, then they, being the liar, would lie and say that you, the honest one would tell me that the door does not lead to the castle."

The first guard stepped aside and let Hinata through the door, when she began falling, only to be stopped by several hands.

"Sakura, I could use some help!" Hinata shouted, wanting to get out of this strange mess.

"Help?" a voice said, causing Hinata to turn. Once she turned, she saw a face made up of hands, which continued to speak, "We are helping. We're Helping Hands. Which way do you want to go? Up or down?"

"I believe I know what's up there, so I suppose down."

"She chose down!" another hand face said, as they began dropping her down, making her move slowly enough to not die, but fast enough for her to feel uncomfortable.

* * *

"And she's landed in the Oubliette," Naruto said, slapping his hand against his forehead.

"And so she has to return to the start of your Labyrinth with a two hour penalty," Gaara said, "Which makes her remaining time two hours, twenty-three minutes."

"Sakura should be there any minute," Naruto mused.

"Indeed," Gaara agreed, "However, she cannot allow Hinata to continue from a later point in the Labyrinth than the entrance, otherwise, I will be required to intervene."

"I know, I know," Naruto responded, raising his hands as a duplicate of him moved in on the cradle and pulled Hanabi's blanket off of her, and dispersed in a puff of smoke, waking the little girl.

"She's awake," Naruto said with a smirk as Hanabi's cries filled the room, causing Gaara to rush to the cradle to get the girl to go back to sleep. Now, all Sakura had to do was get Hinata out of there, and back into the Labyrinth and Gaara would never be the wiser. Naruto was always amused by Gaara's strict adherence to game rules, but right now, they would be a nuisance, especially if Gaara caught Hinata doing something she wasn't supposed to do. At least, for a few more minutes, he would be occupied by Hanabi refusing to go to bed. Smiling to himself over his maneuvers to keep Gaara from interfering for the moment, he turned to walk out of the room, leaving a duplicate in his chair, shouting at Gaara as loudly as he could to get Hanabi to sleep.

* * *

Sakura stood at the gate of the castle and sighed in impatience. Hinata was definitely taking her time to get there. Suddenly, to her surprise, her surrogate brother had arrived in a flash of yellow, standing a few feet away from her.

"Hinata's in the Oubliette," Naruto said, concern on his face, "You need to get to her quickly."

"The Oubliette?" Sakura asked in surprise, "doesn't that take away some of her time? I'm not taking her back to the beginning."

"I know," he responded quickly, "but Gaara can't find out. He's going to be occupied for the next few minutes, but that's all you've got. Go!"

With that said, he vanished in the same flash that he arrived with.

Sakura ran. She had to get to Hinata quickly, or she wouldn't be able to get her to the castle quickly enough. Once she got to the Oubliette, she grabbed Hinata by her wrist and whispered, "We have to get you out of here quickly."

Before Hinata could respond, Sakura towed her out of the room as quickly as she could and began dragging her for some time before stopping at one point, and interrogated, "What's wrong with you? Why would you tell them down? Do you know how much trouble you've given yourself?"

"What kind of trouble?" Hinata asked, "What would the Demon King do?"

"It's not him you need to worry about," Sakura said, in her angry tone, "It's the Sandman and your lost two hours that's your problem. Naruto is the reason I was able to find you."

"Two hours?" Hinata asked incredulously before her tone changed into one of curiosity as she asked, "Who is the Sandman?"

"He's Naruto's friend, the Lord of Dreams," Sakura responded, returning to the friendlier tone, "One flick of his sand can knock somebody out for at least half an hour. He's a bit of a stickler for the rules, and what I'm doing now is helping you cheat. He's going to be keeping a close eye from here on in."

"Why isn't he coming now?" Hinata asked, "If he dislikes cheating as much as you imply, shouldn't he be here already?"

"Naruto's keeping him distracted for the moment," she answered, "Now just keep going. We'll be there in no time."


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto's Labyrinth

Chapter 4

Hello, disclaimer readers. As you well know by reading the previous disclaimers, I don't own Naruto or Labyrinth, or the songs therein. If you haven't read the previous disclaimers, this may come as a surprise to you. Either that or you aren't reading this disclaimer, like the other unread disclaimers.

Gaara rejoined Naruto at the crystal ball and observed Hinata as Naruto toyed with two other crystal balls he had summoned to his hand. Noticing something terribly wrong, he looked up at the Demon King and said, "This cannot be possible. She has already made it a third of the way through the Labyrinth. Had Sakura helped her cheat?"

"No, not that I saw," Naruto responded in a bored tone, "She seemed to have remembered her way through the Labyrinth, yet missed the doors. Watching Sakura run after her was actually kind of amusing."

"Are you certain that she did not cheat her way to this point?" Gaara asked, focusing on the crystal ball.

"Like I said, I didn't see anything amiss," Naruto responded.

"Nonetheless," Gaara commented, "I shall be keeping an eye on Miss Hyuuga and Sakura from here on out. It wouldn't do if there was cheating going on in the Labyrinth."

* * *

Hinata and Sakura were moving through the Labyrinth, Hinata leading the way as they continued down their path. Eventually, they came to a door. Turning to Sakura, Hinata said, "I think we should go that way."

"This is a bit awkward," Sakura said nervously, "I can't go through doors that I wasn't invited through."

"What?" Hinata asked, "Why not?"

"I don't know," Sakura replied in her more confrontational tone, "It's the reason that Naruto had to get me out of the pit, rather than me getting out of there myself... I still think we're at least part-fairy… No we aren't…! Anyway, I can't go through a door without being invited in, so I'll just wait for you on the other side."

"Like that did so well the last time," Hinata muttered as Sakura headed off yet again. As she entered, she came across four monstrous-looking demons that were surrounding a bound, green clad boy with big eyes, black bowl-cut hair, and black bushy eyebrows. Activating her Byakugan, she found herself feeling certain that this wasn't going to be fun as she prepared to attack the group.

* * *

Sakura, meanwhile, stood at the edge of the enclosure that the door would lead to. She would need to get Hinata out of there, so she held a rope, preparing herself to use it once the girl came into view.

"Hello, Sakura," a dull monotone voice said from behind her, causing her to shiver slightly as she turned to face the Sandman, "I am here on rather important business."

"W-what?" Sakura asked, concerned for her and Hinata's safety. Naruto had said Gaara would be distracted, but what if he had seen her? She had heard of a person who had attempted to attack his wife, Matsuri. They never woke up. To say Gaara was not known for restraint when disturbed was a horrible understatement.

"You are currently assisting the runner Hinata Hyuuga, are you not?" he inquired, not looking away from her as the sand around him moved on its own.

"Yes," she replied, shifting uncomfortably. This did not seem to be going well.

"I understand that you are helping her," he said plainly, not changing his cadence, "However, I have my doubts as to the legitimacy of her current progress level. Unfortunately, I have no proof of wrongdoing, as I did not witness any deception. As such, I am here to inform you that I am personally going to be watching the two of you carefully. If I find that you did not adhere to the rules of the Labyrinth, I would be required, as regulator, to render you unconscious for a length of time that would depend on the severity of the charges. I do not wish to do that, but it is required of me. That is all. I wish you luck."

With that, a wind seemed to pick up and dissolved Gaara into sand, which floated back to the castle. Sakura let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

* * *

Hinata had hidden in the bushes, having taken the green boy out of that area as he attempted to untie himself. Waiting for him to be free to get to safety, she decided to see what these demons would do. To her surprise, they had been performing a musical number, which involved them doing things that were disturbing. The conjoined twins and the boy who kept breaking bits of his skeleton out of his body were particularly macabre in their movements.

"Chilly down with the Sound Gang…" they repeated for Hinata didn't know what number this was. Deciding that enough was enough, she burst out and pulled the red haired one's flute and struck her on the head with enough force to render her unconscious.

Once the music stopped, the obvious leader, a grey haired man with glasses who looked like someone tried to graft bits of a snake-man onto him shouted from the group, which was further away, "Hey, you can't use part of someone's technique! That's cheating! Someone's going to have to take one of your eyes, now!"

Hinata got into a combat stance, getting ready to use her own jutsu, Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. They could not possibly survive going against her ultimate defense if they tried anything. Before any of them could move against her, however, a green blur sprang from the bushes to her side, shouting a battle cry that sounded like it was shouting "YOUTH!" It immediately seemed to move like a pinball of destruction as it took out the group one by one, rendering them unconscious with each hit. The blur then sped to Hinata and landed in front of her, saying, "Thank you for your most youthful aid, stranger. I am in your debt and will serve you in whatever quest brings you through my great youthful lord, the Demon King's Labyrinth. Please tell me your name, as I must know who I am serving."

"My name is Hinata Hyuuga," Hinata responded, unsure of what just happened other than the green boy leaping into the fight, "What is your name?"

"Hinata Hyuuga!?" Lee exclaimed dropping to one knee, "You are the one my great youthful lord, the Demon King speaks of most youthfully. It is an honor to serve you, milady. My name is Lee, if it pleases you. Perhaps we should get moving."

"That would be best," Hinata agreed, as she began walking forward, which led her to a stone wall, down which one end of a rope tumbled. Looking up, she saw Sakura waving at her with an amused smile on her face. As Hinata started climbing the rope, she was surprised to see Lee climbing the wall without rope or hooks, or, as her still active Byakugan showed, no use of chakra to cling to it. He seemed to have poor chakra gates, yet he was doing very well.

"Hi, Hinata, hi Lee" Sakura said cheerfully, "I'm glad to see you Hinata, and the aid of the Second Green Beast is always welcome. Now, let's go to the castle. It's a bit away."

The group began walking, until suddenly, a trapdoor opened from their combined weight, causing them to plunge to the ground.

* * *

Naruto and Gaara were seated, watching the proceedings. Hanabi was awake and playing with some duplicates Naruto summoned.

"Well, they are closer to the castle because of that plunge," Gaara commented, "Why you decided to put such a trapdoor there will always elude me. She has an hour and twenty-six minutes left."

"She might actually make it with time to spare," Naruto said cheerfully, "She might succeed where Iruka's runners all failed and get through a Labyrinth."

"It is a different Labyrinth than the one your predecessor had possessed," Gaara reminded him, "It could just be that your Labyrinth is less challenging than his."

Ignoring that comment, he smiled and said, "You remind me of the babe."

"What babe?" Gaara asked.

"The babe with the power," he answered.

"What power?" Gaara inquired, not yet realizing what was going on.

"The power of voodoo," Naruto responded.

"Who do?" Gaara questioned, having misheard him.

"You do," Naruto replied with a smirk.

"Do what?" Gaara probed, getting annoyed.

"Remind me of the babe," Naruto replied as some of his duplicates began playing instruments. Naruto then got up and got ready to sing when Gaara simultaneously crushed the duplicates with the instruments and pulled Naruto back into his seat with his sand.

"You are not starting that song up again," he growled in his usual monotone.

"Spoilsport," Naruto replied, before suddenly looking at the crystal ball on the table in amusement, "Speaking of spoilsports, Hinata and company are going to have to cross a bridge to get here. This should be fun."


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto's Labyrinth

Chapter 5

I still don't own Labyrinth or Naruto. If I did, believe me, I would have told you by now. Or, at least, you would know by now.

Hinata, Sakura, and Lee had fallen quite a distance. At some points, it seemed almost as if they had fallen sideways. At any rate, they were falling. As they started once again falling down, they slowed to a stop. A door opened in front of them, revealing more of the Labyrinth. The Castle was even closer, now. Giddy, Hinata pulled her newfound friends along, eager to finish. she still had quite a bit of time. She could make it to Hanabi with time to spare.

"Anyway," Sakura said with a smile, "as I asked earlier, what stories did you hear about Naruto?"

Hinata blushed furiously before she said, "I'd heard stories of how he'd rescue lost children, befriend orphans, and how he'd fought off all manners of creatures to protect those he cared for."

"And?" Sakura asked, knowing that wasn't all.

"And how he'd become smitten with me of all people," she answered, her face getting redder as she continued, "All I had done was be nice to him once when I was younger. I still remember that day. There was a boy, blonde and cheerful with three lines on each side of his face, who was suddenly shoved to the ground by another child, who called him 'Whisker-Face.' The other children joined in, and he seemed sad, so I ran up to them and told them to stop. When they shoved me down with him, he seemed to growl at them. His eyes had turned red with black slits for pupils and his whiskers weren't just thin marks anymore. He scared them off just like that and smiled at me before he ran off. I didn't know he was really anything other than a boy who needed help."

"So that's where it came from," Sakura said quietly, looking at Hinata carefully.

"Where what came from?" Hinata asked, confused.

"He got us started on this Labyrinth about two days after he had gone to your world," Sakura responded, "He seemed to want to build the perfect Labyrinth, wanting it to be special, 'Something she would find fun...' I didn't know how much you meant to him before. Well, it's time to get to the nearest bridge, because we're nearing the river."

When the trio made it to a bridge, Lee tried to leap across before he was stopped by a fireball blasting near his feet. Out from a small house by the bridge came a boy in a blue shirt with black hair that reminded Hinata of ducks for some reason. He had a bit of a scowl on his face as he said, "None shall pass!"

Hinata returned the glare and was ready for a fight when Lee shouted "Behold, the Labyrinth's Second Green Beast, Rock Lee!"

"I know your name, Lee," the boy said, his scowl replaced with a look of annoyance, "Just like you know I'm Sasuke Uchiha, Keeper of the Bridges."

"Do you mind?" Hinata asked, getting frustrated by them getting nowhere with this, "We are on a bit of a schedule, as I need to get to the center of the Labyrinth as soon as possible."

"I'm afraid my orders were quite specific, Miss Hyuuga," Sasuke replied, holding his stance, "I was told not one single person, nor any group of people can get across the bridge without my permission. This is where I am, and this is where I'll stay."

Once he said this, Lee shouted, "I will stop your unyouthful prevention of milady Hinata Hyuuga, the love of my great youthful lord, the Demon King's life! In the name of youth!"

And with that, things began to get stranger, as Lee and Sasuke seemed intent on fighting to the death. At least they were until it seemed obvious that neither were getting a single blow on the other. Suddenly, Sasuke stopped and said, "Halt. Until this day, I have had only one equal in power, who is a dangerous female, and have only ever been bested by the Demon King, himself. Join me as my brother at arms."

As this bizarre turn of events unfolded, Sakura walked up to Hinata and said, "This is actually a pretty normal occurrence with Sasuke-kun. He made Naruto his brother when Naruto beat him in a spar, and I'm supposed to mother his children for being able to keep up with him. Isn't that so romantic?"

"Sure," Hinata said, looking at possibly insane boy talking to Lee. Then, she thought for a moment for a way to get them across easily. Once she got it, she went up to Sasuke and asked, "So, you have very specific parameters on who can get across, don't you?"

"Yes," Sasuke said proudly, "None can pass without my permission."

"Then may we have your permission to cross this bridge, Keeper of the Bridges?" Hinata asked believing she had figured out something she could use.

"Sure," he said, "Now, let's go to the Castle."

"What?" Hinata asked, trying to figure out if she had implied they would take him with them.

"You didn't suspect that I would let my brother, my other brother's future wife and the mother of my future children to go alone," Sasuke said with a smirk, "Yes, I saw you back there, Sakura."

With that, the trio turned quartet began to walk, Hinata behind the group.

As time progressed, they were getting hungry, and started talking about it, so Hinata plucked a few peaches from a nearby tree and started giving them to the others.

* * *

"Now Gaara," Naruto said in a panic, "Be reasonable! Let's not be hasty!"

Hanabi was asleep again, and wasn't waking despite the racket Naruto was making.

"She has removed peaches off the tree," Gaara said in his same monotone, "such an action is prohibited among runners to Labyrinths, as per the Codex of Rules your predecessor had left. As such, the transgression must be dealt with."

"Why not just deduct a few minutes?" Naruto asked desperately, clinging to Gaara's forearm, "Surely a few measly peaches aren't worth making her sleep most of her time away!"

"I am afraid that she must be punished for her transgression with this level of severity due to the Codex of Rules," Gaara said, turning to sand which blew away, "I am sorry for this, my friend. I did look forward to seeing a winner to a Labyrinth."

* * *

"Hinata Hyuuga," a voice said from behind her, while her friends paled. Turning, she saw a red-headed boy standing behind her, "I am afraid that by taking the peaches off of the tree, you have broken a rule of the Labyrinth. I regret to inform you that I will now be forced to put you and your teammates to sleep for the majority of what remains of your time. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Before Hinata or her teammates could respond, sand filled all of their visions before everything went black.

* * *

_Hinata was in a ballroom, wearing an elegant gown that looked appropriate for the place. She felt her face. There was a mask over her eyes. Looking around, she saw that she was at a masquerade ball. She was walking, looking for whatever it was she was forgetting._

_ She was walking. What was she forgetting? She knew it must be important, but she couldn't recall what it was._

_ Suddenly, a boy with blonde hair and whiskers was falling. He was falling._

_ She was running. She needed to save him. He needed her. His body had a strange red aura around it._

_ She was running. She caught him, though he didn't seem to really need the aid, since he just lifted himself out of her arms. His eyes were red, but then they turned blue. They seemed to have the sky placed in them. They held such a sad love deep inside._

_ "Hinata," he said, as they waltzed to the music around them, "Your heart's being fooled. This is just a dream. Fight it. The Hinata I love can do it. You just need to get out of here. Hanabi's counting on you."_

_Hinata froze. Hanabi. She had almost forgotten her sister. Where was her sister? Where was she? Looking at the walls, she saw a clock. It had nine hours rather than twelve. It was forty-nine minutes to the end of her time to find Hanabi. She would need to hurry. How could she get out, though?_

_ "Take the path between the stars," the boy with the whiskers said with a smile. Naruto. His name was Naruto, the Demon King. He was her adversary in this, but he didn't seem to particularly relish in the fact. Why was there a sad love deep in his eyes?_

_ Before she could ponder this further, he pushed her in the direction of the path that lead between the stars. She felt a moon within her heart as she moved forward. Then, the world was falling down._

_ Then, she was falling._

_ She was falling_

_ She was falling._

_ Falling..._

* * *

Hinata woke up. Turning to her companions, she shook each of them awake. They needed to get to the castle soon, or she wouldn't be able to save Hanabi. The group began their rush to the Castle. They would battle their way to that Castle if they had to.

* * *

"Was that not cheating?" Gaara asked in his monotone, "You entered her dreams and aided her escape from her penance."

"I entered her dream, this is true, Gaara," Naruto said in a blunt tone, "However, I merely pushed her. She would have gotten out on her own. I just reminded her of her incentive."

"Very well," Gaara said, "But remember what you are doing here. You have taken a big risk in this. I hope for your sake that she is worth it."

"She is," Naruto replied, leaving the pair in silence as they sat themselves back down to view Hinata's progress.


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto's Labyrinth

Chapter 6

I actually managed to get another chapter done sooner than I thought.

I still don't own Naruto, however.

Hinata and her companions had finally made it to the gate to the Demon City, inside which was the Demon King's Castle, where he was keeping her sister, Hanabi. They approached the gate cautiously, noticing that no one seemed to be guarding it, which seemed suspicious to the entire group. Eventually, they decided to risk it, as they only had so much time left to get her inside.

When they got to the entrance, they found that there was a large robot with a boy with black hair that reminded Hinata of a pineapple sleeping inside. Noticing that the door to the gate was open, they just walked past him and entered.

"That was rather anticlimactic," Hinata commented as they passed the gate, "Was he supposed to be awake and fight us?"

"Probably," Sakura shrugged, "Shikamaru is pretty lazy, though. At any rate, it's one less problem to worry about, so why bother thinking about it?"

"It just seems weird," Hinata said as they continued down their path, "He's out there, sleeping, and so far, we've met no opposition now that we're inside."

"You might want to rethink that statement," Sasuke said, as they were greeted by a man with only one eye and his silver hair uncovered, a woman with sandy blond hair who was carrying a very large fan, and a man with the same fashion sense as Lee, but with a green flak jacket over his unitard.

"Well, my youthful apprentice," the larger one said, "I'm afraid that we must fight on opposite sides for this battle."

"Yes, we must Gai-sensei," Lee replied, taking a combat stance.

"Sasuke," the one-eyed man said, "You know that I don't want to fight you. Still, I know we have to."

"Hn," the boy responded, no expression on his face as his eyes turned red.

"Hey there, Pinky," the woman said, "Looks like it's you and me."

"Indeed, Temari-chan," Sakura said with a strange smile, "but I'm not the one you should be worried about."

With that, Sakura's grin turned into a scowl as she said, "I'm your biggest problem, Temari."

"Then, let's get started," Temari said as they began to charge at each other.

Before anyone made contact, Sakura shouted, "Run, Hinata! You've only got twelve minutes left. We can handle this crowd! If you need us, just call!"

Hinata rushed off, assured of her friends' skills, and headed to the castle.

* * *

Naruto sat there in his throne room. It was almost time. He was going to have to confront her.

"Are you certain that you wish to hold a battle of wills against her on your own?" Gaara asked, "Think of what it could cost you."

"I'll take my chances," Naruto answered with a weak grin, "Besides, Mr. Rules, it's required. Codex of Rules, remember?"

"Very well," Gaara said, disintegrating into loose sand as he was carried off by a wind, "But be careful, my friend. Nine tails or not, it is still a rather large risk for you."

"I will," Naruto responded to the sand as it left, "Now I need to move Hanabi."

* * *

Hinata arrived at the castle gate. She knew that this was the moment that had been coming since she started the quest. She was going to have to confront the Demon King in his own castle, in his own city, in the Labyrinth he built especially for her. She marched through the throne room, noticing that no one was there. She continued for a while. She had passed several rooms, each of which was empty. It was such an empty castle. It was almost as if there was nothing living in there. A few statues moved to deter her sojourn every once in a while, but the castle, itself seemed to be completely devoid of life. How could anyone stand to live there?

She was broken from her reverie by a very important sight. In front of her was a series of stairs that went in numerous impossible directions, with so many doors. But that wasn't what was important to Hinata at the moment. At the top of one of the vertical sets of staircases was Hanabi.

Hinata rushed to get to her sister, only to run into the Demon King, Naruto. He looked at her with an amused smirk that didn't quite seem to reach his eyes. Hinata pulled herself away, and continued her attempts to get to Hanabi, as he followed her using one of the sideways sets as easily as one would use the normal sets. Hinata, however, would not be distracted, and rushed to Hanabi, only to find that it wasn't really her. It had been a duplicate of Naruto, which had transformed and dispersed the moment she neared it.

Angered, she rushed to Naruto, who merely stood there with that smirk. She glared at him for a moment before she decided on a gambit that might just work. He had called it their story, after all. If it was their story, then surely he was bound to follow the story to the end.

"Hinata," he said cautiously, "You can have her back if you want."

Ignoring him in case it was another trick, she began to recite the last lines in as strong a voice as she could muster, and said, "Give me the child."

His face paled. He looked as if he had been struck a blow that wounded him. Perhaps using the quote was working.

"Hinata," he said, his voice seeming a bit desperate, "You can have her back. I'm not trying to trick you."

Hinata wasn't sure if she could trust him, so she continued, "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Demon City..."

"Now, precious, I've been more than generous," he intoned in a terrified voice, "I let you turn my world upside down. You've starved and near exhausted me."

"...To reclaim the child you have stolen..." she pressed, something not feeling quite right as she continued.

"What more do you want from me?!" he cried, "I've reordered time for you, I pulled you out of the dream to get you here! I built this Labyrinth, every detail made to appeal to you! Everything I've done, I've done for you! Can't you see that?!"

"...For my will is as strong as yours..." she pressed on, still not sure what was feeling so wrong about this situation.

"You wanted your sister back, here take her!" he exclaimed, pulling a sleeping Hanabi out of thin air and shoving her into Hinata's arms, "I'll paint you mornings of gold! I'll move the stars only for you! I can't live without you! Can't you see what you're doing to me?!"

"...And my kingdom as great..." she added, not sure why he was so afraid of these words, "You...what is that next line?"

"Hinata please don't!" he cried out in anguish, "I love you. Need me, love me! That's all I ask and I'll be your slave! I ask for so little, just that you be mine as I'm yours! Please don't say...!"

"You have no power over me," she said, remembering the line out loud as the clock struck the ninth hour. Yet, despite her victory, she couldn't help but feel something was horribly wrong. Looking up, she was surprised by Naruto's current state. His eyes were red, with black slits for pupils. His whiskers were more prominent. His nails looked more like claws and nine tails sprouted from behind him. Yet, despite all of this, he seemed to be sad, almost in pain. She reached out to touch him, to try to comfort him, but he leapt out of her grasp.

"It's too late for something like that," he said, his voice brimming with despair and anger, "What's said is said. You've made your intentions clear. Do not worry. I will not disturb you again."

"But, Naruto-kun..." she said, trying to run to him. To her surprise, despite how much she ran, she couldn't get to him. Behind him, the clock that had been marking her time seemed to be flowing in reverse as he looked at the ground with tears in his eyes.

As the world around her fell down, she heard his broken voice as he said, "No one can blame you for walking away... Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl because it hurts like hell."

* * *

Hinata woke up in Hanabi's room, sleeping in the chair that she had been seated in while telling Hanabi the story. Looking at the clock in the room, she found that only an hour had passed since Hanabi had fallen asleep. Hinata wondered if it had all just been a dream as she headed out of the room to find Kurenai and her father entering the house.

"Hello, Father, hello Kurenai-sensei," she said softly, "Did you enjoy your dinner?"

"Hello, yes, we did," Kurenai said, "How was Hanabi?"

"She's sleeping peacefully," Hinata responded, still unsure if it was merely a dream.

"That is good to hear," her father said gently, "Why don't you go to bed, now? You must be tired."

"Thank you, Father," she responded, heading to her room. Once inside, she picked up the plush fox she always had on her bed.

"Was it really a dream?" she asked herself, looking in her mirror.

Dream or not, she remember the words Sakura had said.

"If you need us, just call," Hinata whispered, "But I need all of you right now..."

"I'm glad to hear that," she heard a voice say behind her. Turning, she saw Sakura, Sasuke, Lee, Gai, the one-eyed man, Temari, the currently beaten up Sound Gang, the door guards, the gate guard, and even the Sandman standing there with a brown-haired girl, all of whom were seeming to hold their breaths in anticipation. Still, there was one person who wasn't there. He was the person she wanted to see the most.

"Where's Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, looking around, trying to see if he was hidden in the crowd.

"He is not coming," the Sandman said, "He is currently brooding in the castle, unwilling to even face anyone or anything. He has not even tried to voyage out to claim orphans to fill the kingdom. I think he won't recover anytime soon."

"Take me to him," Hinata said in a commanding tone, "I want to see him."

"I would truly like to do that," Gaara said, "But he has locked up the castle and won't open it for anything. Not even my sand can get in."

"Alright then," Hinata said determinedly, "I wish the Demon King's servants would take me to their King. Right. Now."

"That's more like it," Sakura said with a cheerfully bright smile as they all swarmed her, "Your wish is our command."


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto's Labyrinth

Chapter 7

Well, here we are, at the end of things, and I still don't own Naruto or Labyrinth.

Hinata found herself feeling like she was floating as they lowered her to the ground floor of the castle's stair room. Once she touched down, she began to run, only to be stopped by a wall of sand.

"Miss Hyuuga," the Sandman said, dropping the sand wall as he looked her in the eyes, "Do be careful. He is in pain, a pain which I believe only you can heal. No matter what he says, do not be deterred. Now GO!"

Hinata ran, trying to find Naruto. He needed her. She ran and ran, searching room after room, trying to find him, yet, no matter where she looked, she could not find him. Still, she pressed on.

She stood in the hallway after checking through the ninetieth door she had come across and began to think. Where would a Demon King, vanquished in his own Labyrinth, a creation he had painstakingly built only to be defeated by six words, want to seek solace? There was only one possible place he could be when she looked at it that way.

She rushed to the throne room, the very entrance of the Castle and saw him slouching on his throne, a slump to his shoulders, a slouch in his posture. He looked the very image of a broken man, one who had nothing left to him. He didn't seem cocky, eager to take on the world, nor did he seem satisfied, willing to bask in the moment. He just looked miserable. She definitely needed to help him. Anything to offer solace to the broken figure in that throne.

Tentatively, she edged closer to him, not wanting to startle him, as he still had that red aura around him. She stuck out her hand, readying to touch his shoulder, get him to acknowledge her presence, that she was there to help.

Just when she was about to make contact, she pulled, hearing a rasping voice coming out of his throat as he said, "Come back to gloat? Well, here I am! Look at me: the Demon King, bested by a few words. I offered you everything, but you ignored me, spurned me. Your eyes are so cruel, as I can be. I would have given you anything you wanted, but you didn't care. I worked all of this time, trying to make you the perfect world, but you didn't want anything to do with me. You rejected me. Six. Words. That was all it took. You said them so easily. Did I really mean so little to you as to be worth six words? I thought... I thought... Never mind. It's nothing. Go away. I don't want you here."

"No, Naruto-kun," she said, standing her ground, "I'm not leaving you alone. Not again."

"Why?! What more is there of me for you to take?!" he shouted, his eyes burning red, "You took my world and smashed it to pieces! I built you this Labyrinth and you passed through it without any care! I pulled you out of danger as best I could, and you just kept pressing on without thinking of how much it took for me to help you secretly. You wanted a villain to shout at when the rules forced me to take your sister, and I was frightened. I bent over backwards just to help you through. Don't you realize you've beaten me? You've triumphed! My entire Labyrinth was too easy for you, my kingdom too unimportant, my love worth too little! You've won everything you could possibly want from me! I can't give you anything else! Why aren't you satisfied?! Why did you have to come back?!"

His anger spent, he let her go and shoved her back weakly before she grabbed his shoulder gently, and said, "Because I remember a boy with whiskers who needed someone to help him up one day. When the girl who tried to help him was shoved to the ground, he moved to defend her. Yes, I still remember that day. You were so cheerful, even when they hit you, until I was thrown down. Then I said those words, so concerned with the possibility of losing Hanabi that I didn't think that you could be hurt by it. You're hurt, and you feel such anger over the entire situation, from opening up to me to getting beaten. I admired the details of your Labyrinth. I felt how much it pained you to be my antagonist. You kept trying to tell me something important, but it kept getting lost in all of the chaos of your attempts to court me. You did all of this, and I am grateful, but you didn't need to do it. Don't you understand? I didn't need such a lavish attempt. I didn't need any wishes, or any Labyrinths. I would have been glad if you had gone up to me and asked me if I would like to spend time with you."

Naruto let out a light chuckle and looked at Hinata, his eyes fading to blue one again and his vulpine features fading into a more human appearance as he said, "I made a mess of things, didn't I? I even did what Gaara did when he thought he could never be with Matsuri. That was dumb of me. Why don't I make it up to you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, "Aren't I the one who hurt you?"

"Yes, but you came back," he said, a light blush dusting his cheeks, "You couldn't possibly know how much that meant to me. I had to stay in my seat just to prevent myself from leaping at you and kissing you when you first entered."

"That's not fair," she smiled, grabbing the collar of his jacket, "You purposefully resisted me from the start."

"You say that it was unfair, but I can't help but wonder what's your basis for comparison," he teased, wrapping his arms around her, "How did you even get here?"

"I have my ways," she returned with a gentle smile as she returned the embrace.

He gave a sigh of content as he pulled her closer to him, tightening the embrace. She pulled back slightly and looked deep into his eyes, which showed joy, peace, and love. She smiled as they both leaned in for a kiss. He was never going to be lonely again, not if she could help it.


End file.
